Global Engagement
February 28, 2020

Creating Space for Shared Wisdom & Encouragement at the Global Engagement Symposium

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As the Global Engagement Symposium began, I interrupted the buzz of conversation and invited people to do more than just listen to a presenter. I welcomed them to contribute to the presentation. A symposium is a conference in which the participants are the presenters. And so, colleagues from ECO’scommunity of mission leaders selected the topics, gave thought provoking presentations, and invited response from the attendees.
The camaraderie was evident among the 60+ participants as lively discussions ensued about the selected topics: the cost of leading a church toward being missional, lessons about missional church from the global church, the slow and vital process of helping a church identify focus in their mission engagement,the shared wisdom for handling conflict among church leaders, and leaning towards relational mission engagement instead of projects.
Our Egyptian brother, Rev. Dr. Tharwat Wahba, shared about the mutual encouragement we can have by partnering with the global church. Partnerships in global mission help our Western churches understand missional life from a new perspective. The global church is not perfect in its missional expressions, but as we learn from and come alongside their unique challenges, our churches can grow in courage to take risks for evangelism and mission in our own communities.
One of our mission leaders closed the day by reminding us that “Mission is all about relationships.” What a gift that we as ECO churches are interconnected not only with each other, but with the global body of Christ. Those relationships are what spur us on in God’s mission. It’s my hope that the connection we shared in Dallas will continue as ECO seeks to be a movement that spurs one another toward being flourishing churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ.


Jen Haddox serves as Director of Global Engagement for ECO, and is cultivating collaboration for equipping, resourcing, and connecting our churches to God’s mission in the world. Contact her at jen@eco-pres.org.

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